What is it, Old Age?

Abstract

When we are made to think about old age nowadays it motivates us to believe that we are contributing to break some social prejudices. This article aims to reflect the question of old age and turns to the conception of some references and reports experienced by a group of old people, as an object of study of gerontology, defining some approaches that guide the discussions on social relations, involving subjects. It was found throughout the study that there was a "silence" around the theme of old age, around the word "old", the pronunciation of the terms for that moment in life and the subject who lived that phase, was still veiled. The objective of the research is to have a greater understanding of this stage of life, old age, nowadays, seeking to hear and understand the subject, in particular how they are experiencing their aging, from their speeches and reports of experiences that come from the project called “Cycle of Meetings”, through the workshop “Exchanging Ideas”, which is part of the Social Work with the Elderly (TSI) activity, linked to the Assistance Program, of the Social Service of Commerce - Sesc, with the group called Grupo Plenitude. It is an exploratory research, with a qualitative approach, based on the analysis of the speeches of 25 subjects. Thus, we can conclude that it is possible for old people to discuss and reflect on their old age, visualizing their needs, seeking to overcome the various challenges and open themselves to new conquests, through their life project, envisioning autonomy until the end of their existence.